You wait ten YEARS for a lollipop lady ... then 10 come along at once

Some of the new school crossing patrol officers with pupils from Newick C of E Primary School. Photo: Ron Hill SUS-160719-143142001

Sarah Page

Published:14:43Tuesday 19 July 2016

A village primary school that has been on the lookout for a new crossing patrol officer for more than 10 YEARS has now managed to recruit not just one, but TEN.

Despite its lengthy search, no-one stepped forward to take on the role at Newick Church of England Primary School off Allington Road when it first started looking all those years ago.

But then Newick Parish Councillor Jennifer Smerdon stepped forward to tell East Sussex County Council she was going to muster some volunteers.

School crossing patrol supervisor Gillian Todd said: “I have been working with the school trying to recruit.

“Earlier in the year Jennifer Smerdon, a local councillor, contacted East Sussex county council to say she was going to try and recruit some volunteers to man the site.

“About a month ago I received a call from Jenny to say she had 10 volunteers who were going to share the duties between them.

“After checks, I trained the patrols about two weeks ago and they are up and running and working well.”

And Jenny herself added: “Newick C of E School had been trying to recruit someone to do the school crossing patrol for over 10 years, but no-one had stepped forward.

“When I began taking my grandchild to school, I soon realised the need to have one in place as soon as possible and so began the the process of asking for 10 volunteers to help run the crossing on a rotational basis.

“The Newick community rallied and we soon had enough willing people to operate it, each person doing either a morning or an afternoon slot once per week.

“This arrangement also means that holidays and illnesses can be covered easily.

“We have all been trained by the county and feel we are making a real difference to the ‘safe crossing’ of children and adults to and from school as well as slowing down the traffic!”